In a move which appears to have been so surprising to Western officials that they weren’t able to muster their usual canned condemnation, the Iranian government has offered a broad-based new nuclear deal with the international community.
The offer, coming from Fereydoun Abbasi, the head of Iran’s nuclear authority, pledged “full supervision” of Iran’s program for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in return for an end to all sanctions against Iran.
Exactly how broadly this would extend is unclear, but it appears to go well beyond Iran’s current requirements under its safeguards agreement with the IAEA, which it is currently complying with, and potentially beyond the additional protocols Western officials have demanded they submit to.
At the same time, Abbasi’s offer would have Iran continuing civilian enrichment of uranium, something it has every right to do under international law, but which has also been an excuse for harsh international sanctions and repeated threats by the US and Israel to attack.
